Written by MJ Ryan, SheEO Development Guide

Photo by David Ghilardi

I’ve been holding onto this graphic for a year. As a person who excels in worrying, it really struck a chord with me. Because of course worrying is a wasted form of imagination—as Mark Twain noted when he said, “I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.” I’ve known this for decades and have been relating to my worrying mind, for better or worse, ever since.

So far, the best antidote I’ve found is gratitude. Because worry is always about the future, even if it’s only the next moment. And gratitude brings us to the present moment where that future does not yet exist.

Then yesterday I was talking to Becky Cashman, founder of Goodbye in New Zealand. Of course, we were touching on the great uncertainty we are all dealing with in the face of the ever-evolving pandemic and its effects on entrepreneurs. And at one point she said, “The curious mind turns off the worrying mind.” Yes, yes, yes.

When worries strike, give your mind something better to do with your imagination. Get into creativity/curiosity. Learn something new, imagine a wonderful outcome you can’t yet see. Let’s all use our minds to get curious and imagine the future we want!